Lost photos

[Lynjon]

Re: Lost photos

Yes, that was the only SD card I had with me, and I didn't change it while taking the photos. I too wondered about the possibility of a cache, but no luck there either.

[Lynjon]

Re: Lost photos

It's no help to recover your lost pictures but have you made sure you don't have the camera set up to shoot without a card in it?

I've just checked and yes, it is set up to shoot without a card in it. What affect could this have had? As I mentioned above I checked the images I had taken each day and they all seemed fine.

[AndyMulhearn]

Re: Lost photos

Set the other way you get a warning that there is no card in the camera and it won't shoot. I presume the way you have it set you could shoot all day and unless you go back and check would be none the wiser that you've not saved any shots. If you checked them then it's not the cause of the problem but worth setting to disallow shooting with no card - that way you find out the card's not there when you take the first shot...

[Lynjon]

Re: Lost photos

If you checked them then it's not the cause of the problem but worth setting to disallow shooting with no card - that way you find out the card's not there when you take the first shot...

Yes, good thinking. I will certainly set it to Disable. Thanks.

[Bhuna]

Re: Lost photos

Have you tried using a friends PC at all to run any of the recovery progs you cant run on a Mac?

[Lynjon]

Re: Lost photos

Have you tried using a friends PC at all to run any of the recovery progs you cant run on a Mac?

Thanks Andy, but no I haven't. In fact most of the file recovery programs have both a Windows and a Mac version. Only a few are Windows only. Given that I have been able to recover a very large number of previously deleted photos from the SD card, I have have finally reached the conclusion that the missing images were never recorded on the SD card in the the first place. Although how this can have been possible when I was able to view the images on the camera after I took them is beyond me.

[Silvertouran]

Re: Lost photos

Very strange indeed. The only other thing I can think of is that the card switch was set to the lock position while you were using it. But that wouldn't explain why you were able to view them on the camera.
I also have mine set to alert me that there's no card present.

[John Liddle]

Re: Lost photos

......I have have finally reached the conclusion that the missing images were never recorded on the SD card in the the first place. Although how this can have been possible when I was able to view the images on the camera after I took them is beyond me.

The camera has its own memory, into which the images are dumped as they are taken and then bled across into the card - it is this process that allows a high burst rate until the camera memory is full and then the burst rate slows to whatever the transfer rate to the card imposes.

Since you had "Shoot without a card" enabled, IF you had forgotten to insert a card, then the images would be taken and would reside in the camera's memory, from where you would be able to view them after taking. However, once you switched the camera off, the memory would be emptied and the images would be gone - forever I'm afraid.

I never have "Shoot without a card" enabled for exactly this reason.

[Lynjon]

Re: Lost photos

The only other thing I can think of is that the card switch was set to the lock position while you were using it. But that wouldn't explain why you were able to view them on the camera.

I'm certain the card switch was NOT set to the lock position, because that was the first thing I checked when the computer was showing no images.

[Lynjon]

Re: Lost photos

Since you had "Shoot without a card" enabled, IF you had forgotten to insert a card, then the images would be taken and would reside in the camera's memory, from where you would be able to view them after taking. However, once you switched the camera off, the memory would be emptied and the images would be gone - forever I'm afraid.

I'm pretty certain the images were never recorded to the card in the first place. But I am totally certain that there was a card in the camera when the photos were taken. I reviewed the photos in camera on several different days (switching the camera off in between times) and they were all there then.

[incpot]

Re: Lost photos

I'm totally new to this digital stuff as I've said in my intro, but just a thought, could you have shot everything in RAW format by accident, would that not show as mine needs a RAW to JPEG converter to show them shot in RAW, not really sure what I'm talking about as I havn't tried it yet, just Jpeg, not doubt I'll corrected with an explanation, but some times the simplest of things can be an answer.
I'll get me coat.............................................

[Lynjon]

Re: Lost photos

could you have shot everything in RAW format by accident?

I always shoot in RAW and JPG, so I guess that was not the problem.

[Richard W]

Re: Lost photos

I've read a few cases where people believed that images were lost as a result of static discharge of some kind. I have no idea if this is possible or not, but some people seem convinced it has happened to them. In one case I remember (can't find reference at present) it allegedly happened simply by someone pulling the card out of a wallet. Opinion seems to be that SD cards are more liable as the contacts are exposed, while on CF cards they are concealed. This may be nonsense, but sometimes the most unlikely explanation is correct. There's some (inconclusive) discussion here :

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3597563

I'm sure one could spend weeks reading about these things on the internet, though doubt if it would prove anything.

[Lynjon]

Re: Lost photos

Opinion seems to be that SD cards are more liable as the contacts are exposed, while on CF cards they are concealed. This may be nonsense, but sometimes the most unlikely explanation is correct. There's some (inconclusive) discussion here :
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3597563

Interesting, although the link quoted describes a dual card camera where the CF card suffered from a static discharge, but the SD card didn't.

[Richard W]

Re: Lost photos

That was just one example, I've seen others, an internet search pulls up quite a lot of discussion. As usual "experts" differ on the possibility of this happening. I don't know if people still wear those antistatic wrist bands when assembling computers, they always used to. I have a combination of a sweater and another top, if I wear them together I have to take the top off slowly, if I whip it off quickly I can get quite a zap if I touch a metal object. Might be enough to do some damage to electronic devices??